reefraff once bubbled...
I understand - it takes awhile to get used to the drunken turtle feel of swimming doubles, especially if you're moving at anything other than slow speed.
Perfect description: Drunken turtle. It was both embarrasing and comical.
It requires different finning and body positioning and then it's still wobbly. That's one of the reasons that I do a lot of my diving with a 120 with an H-valve installed on it. I'm not certain that a pony is going to be much different than doubles, however, whether slung stage-style or strapped to your main tank. Trim, especially, would seem to be more problematic with a pony, being an off-center variable weight.
I am going to climb in the pool tomorrow and try out the pony. What I'd really like is to attach it like a stage deco bottle, but I am wondering if it will allow the upper extremities enough range of motion to do things like take photos and spearfish.
Is a slob knob a valve handle angled for easier access? I don't do any penetration diving, but I do find myself inverted under ledges sometimes. I have one buddy who got stuck under a ledge and thought for sure he was a gonner. He was able to finally doff his BC and crawl out from underneath (he was alone), but those kinds of things make you worry about any snag hazards.Hopefully practice will allow you to prevail over your range of motion problem. Given that neither of us is DIR, have you considered a slob-knob? Extra failure/entanglement point, granted, but it might be worth the trade-off to be able to reach the knobs on your doubles.
I'd welcome the chance to see someone's h-valve set-up. For me, it would probably be cost prohibitive, as I own 10 tanks. I like the idea of redundant stages.How do you feel about H-valves?
I'm not giving up on the doubles yet. I have a good instructor I work with on technical issues, so it may just require getting used to it. However, unless I greatly improve in my ability to access those valves behind me, it's not going to be a good solution for me (which may also rule out the h-valve). Oh well, one of the fun things about all this is working through problems. Unfortunately, in my case, it's also one of the expensive things. I could have a scuba sidewalk sale in front of my house.
P.S.: Mike, thanks for those suggestions.